{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T18:50:47Z","timestamp":1769021447355,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,20]],"date-time":"2023-11-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700438400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Imaging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Retinal imaging is a non-invasive technique used to scan the back of the eye, enabling the extraction of potential biomarkers like the artery and vein ratio (AVR). This ratio is known for its association with various diseases, such as hypertensive retinopathy (HR) or diabetic retinopathy, and is crucial in assessing retinal health. HR refers to the morphological changes in retinal vessels caused by persistent high blood pressure. Timely identification of these alterations is crucial for preventing blindness and reducing the risk of stroke-related fatalities. The main objective of this paper is to propose a new method for assessing one of the morphological changes in the fundus through morphometric analysis of retinal images. The proposed method in this paper introduces a novel approach called the arteriovenous length ratio (AVLR), which has not been utilized in previous studies. Unlike commonly used measures such as the arteriovenous width ratio or tortuosity, AVLR focuses on assessing the relative length of arteries and veins in the retinal vasculature. The initial step involves segmenting the retinal blood vessels and distinguishing between arteries and veins; AVLR is calculated based on artery and vein caliber measurements for both eyes. Nine equations are used, and the length of both arteries and veins is measured in the region of interest (ROI) covering the optic disc for each eye. Using the AV-Classification dataset, the efficiency of the iterative AVLR assessment is evalutaed. The results show that the proposed approach performs better than the existing methods. By introducing AVLR as a diagnostic feature, this paper contributes to advancing retinal imaging analysis. It provides a valuable tool for the timely diagnosis of HR and other eye-related conditions and represents a novel diagnostic-feature-based method that can be integrated to serve as a clinical decision support system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jimaging9110253","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,20]],"date-time":"2023-11-20T11:31:36Z","timestamp":1700479896000},"page":"253","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Arteriovenous Length Ratio: A Novel Method for Evaluating Retinal Vasculature Morphology and Its Diagnostic Potential in Eye-Related Diseases"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0859-3299","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sufian A.","family":"Badawi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information Technology, Applied Science Private University, P.O. Box 541350, Amman 11937, Jordan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9785-3920","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maen","family":"Takruri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Information, Communication and Networking Education and Innovation (ICONET), American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah 72603, United Arab Emirates"}]},{"given":"Mohammad","family":"Al-Hattab","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Engineering, Al Ain University, Al Ain 64141, United Arab Emirates"}]},{"given":"Ghaleb","family":"Aldoboni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Information, Communication and Networking Education and Innovation (ICONET), American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah 72603, United Arab Emirates"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4651-3656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Djamel","family":"Guessoum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Information, Communication and Networking Education and Innovation (ICONET), American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah 72603, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Electrical Engineering Department, Ecole de Technologie Superieure, Montreal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4142-4646","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isam","family":"ElBadawi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Ha\u2019il, Ha\u2019il 81481, Saudi Arabia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7283-3640","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed","family":"Aichouni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Ha\u2019il, Ha\u2019il 81481, Saudi Arabia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6726-0753","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Imran Ali","family":"Chaudhry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Ha\u2019il, Ha\u2019il 81481, Saudi Arabia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3539-637X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nasrullah","family":"Mahar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9444-5398","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ajay Kamath","family":"Nileshwar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Saqr Hospital, Ministry of Health and Prevention, P.O. Box 5450, Ras Al Khaimah 72603, United Arab Emirates"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kanski, J.J., and Bowling, B. (2011). Clinical Ophthalmology: A Systematic Approach, Elsevier.","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-7020-4093-1.00019-7"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dascalu, A.M., Serban, D., Tanasescu, D., Vancea, G., Cristea, B.M., Stana, D., Nicolae, V.A., Serboiu, C., Tribus, L.C., and Tudor, C. (2023). The Value of White Cell Inflammatory Biomarkers as Potential Predictors for Diabetic Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). 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